VOOM emerges from stealth with $5 million in funding to provide the world’s first on-demand mobility vehicle insurance for e-rides and drones

On-demand mobility vehicle insurance startup VOOM has emerged from stealth with a $5 million Series A funding rounds to protect your e-rides and drones using artificial intelligence. The funding round was led by Arbor Ventures with participation from returning investors F2 Capital, Verizon Ventures, and Kaedan Capital, as well as new partner Plug and Play Ventures. The funding brings the total amount raised to $7 million.

Founded in 2016 by Ori Blumenthal, Ronny Ahituv, and Tomer Kashi, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based VOOM is the world’s first on-demand, telematics-based InsurTech platform for Specialized Mobility products, dedicated to protecting users for anything they ride, fly, or sail. The company’s first product, SkyWatch.AI, leverages the power of machine learning and telemetry-based risk analysis engine to assess and mitigate risks and provide drone pilots with hazard alerts and feedback on their piloting, transmitting in real time to an app on users’ smartphones.

VOOM’s data-driven, usage-based insurance products include multiple high-risk, episodic-usage mobility verticals, including e-scooters, e-bikes, powersports, motor boats, and small planes. Headquartered in Tel Aviv with an office in Palo Alto, CA, VOOM is a licensed insurance broker in all 50 US states. VOOM, which now incorporates SkyWatch.AI, will continue to offer on-demand drone insurance and will widen its services to additional episodic usage mobility platforms including e-scooters and powersports.

VOOM will build on the success of SkyWatch.AI, the usage-based insurance for commercial drones. In addition to drone insurance, VOOM will offer on-demand insurance for episodic usage mobility including e-scooters, powersports, motor boats, small planes, and other modes of transport.

“With the rise of on-demand mobility services such as e-scooters, we discovered that in most cases, riders are not covered in case of an accident. And much more importantly, they are not aware of this fact,” said Tomer Kashi, CEO and Co-Founder of VOOM. “VOOM will ensure that users of unique mobility platforms can grab insurance on-the-go from their mobile devices whether they ride, fly, or sail.”

With the rising popularity of on-demand mobility around the world, the need for effective on-demand insurance has never been more relevant. Reports show that e-scooter accidents are on the rise across major US cities, with some doctors reporting to see as many as ten severe injuries a week. Yet scooter companies are not known to issue insurance policies that protect riders from liabilities and personal injuries; insurance platforms that do exist for alternate forms of mobility such as boats and motorcycles are largely limited to rigid, annual based plans.

VOOM will build upon SkyWatch.AI’s telemetry-based risk analysis engine for commercial drones, which provides users with a mobile application that sends operators real-time hazard warnings, feedback, and actionable insights on how they fly. VOOM’s new platform will collect mobility data points to analyze potential safety threats, including weather information and hazardous environments. VOOM will use this data to score riders’ safety and performance to customize insurance policies.

“Insurance is a given across every traditional mobility category. However, coverage offerings clearly haven’t kept up with shifting consumer behaviors and emerging risks, such as those associated with micro mobility usage,” said Lior Simon, Vice President and Head of Israel at Arbor Ventures. “I believe in the VOOM team’s ability to execute their vision and am thrilled for them to join Arbor’s portfolio.”

“We saw the demand and traction with SkyWatch.AI and are thrilled to support the new funding round with VOOM’s driven, entrepreneurial team to evolve their insurance model and deep technology to the booming micro-mobility market and other mobility verticals in coming years,” said Barak Rabinowitz, Managing Partner at F2 Capital.

VOOM will seek to collaborate with top insurance carriers to offer users on-demand, usage-based insurance policies for multiple modes of transport. Its user-friendly app and web portal, backed by its underlying AI-based risk analytics platform, make it easy for consumers to purchase inclusive and affordable on-demand insurance from their iOS or Android device, or via the web.